Getting Lost in the Fog of War

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/opinion/27exum.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=andrew%20exum&st=cse


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine
Date: Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 10:34 AM
Subject: re: Getting Lost in the Fog of War
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:
 Mr. Exum proceeds from a false premise--that our government has the
right to keep secrets from us--and arrives at an accusation that
WikiLeaks is abusing the power of the Press. We rejected that premise
when we threw off the British empire 234years ago.  The American
system asserts that it is we the people who have a right (through our
free press) to the information needed to make decisions about ruling
ourselves. Government secrets (e.g. troop movements) are the
exceptions to this right, and must be narrowly circumscribed. A system
of government could be built on Mr. Exum's premise, but it would be
un-American.
Barry Levine